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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

A Vegan and a Vegetarian Taste-test Quorn Vegan Burgers

I have a lot of vegan friends who were huge fans of Quorn products when they were vegetarian. I, on the other hand, spent my vegetarian years eating french fries, cheese, and oreos; nary a meat substitute crossed these lips until I went vegan and, by then, Quorn was no longer an option. So when they recently contacted me to see if they could send me a sample of their new vegan burgers, I was both excited that they were branching out and anxious to finally give a Quorn product a try.

So, the actual burger doesn't look anything like the picture on the box. Anything.

Since it was so thin, I decided to make all four burgers: two each for VM and I to taste. This is what they looked like frozen:

They didn't look much different cooked; certainly no closer to the image on the box. I will note that they did smell appetizing.

When I cut into the burger to investigate, it looked kind of like poultry. There seemed to be a batter of some sort coating of the burger, which is what I think smelled so good.

I piled up my double decker (VM stuck with a single) and prepared to feast.

No matter how many fixin's, how much ketchup (I like ketchup!), it was not my cup of tea. I removed one layer of burger almost immediately, but the texture and the taste of the single still did not sit well with me. Unlike Boca, it was not reminiscent of a beef burger. Nor did it taste like any veggie burger I've ever tried. If I had any idea what one tasted like, I'd assume it was most similar to a turkey burger? There was a gamey taste that I couldn't quite place; perhaps that's their "mycoprotein (fungi)" ingredient?

I will note that while VM did not suffer loudly through her meal as I did, she did pass on the leftovers. So I don't necessarily think she liked it better, so much as she's just a nicer person than I am.

In any event, it was very nice of Quorn to send me their product to try. Perhaps I'm not the target audience for this type of burger, as I like my veggie burgers to fall on the side of veggies rather than burger. Maybe some of you former burger/turkey burger/Quorn lovers out there will wholeheartedly disagree with my review. If you think that's you, let me know and you just might win a coupon for a free Quorn product, courtesy of Quorn, that I hope you'll use to try these vegan burgers and report back. Leave a comment by April 15, 2012, letting me know that you'd like to be considered for the distinct pleasure of (possibly) disagreeing with me and I'll let VM choose the winner. [UPDATE: Check the comments for the announcement of the unfortunate lucky winners.]

15 comments:

I like your review. Even though I've never tasted a quorn burger, I have a feeling I'd appreciate it about as much as you did. Though most people seem to love them, from other reviews I've read. (Weird sort of misprint to appear on a vegan product.)

I was excited to learn Quorn was coming out with its first vegan product. But after reading this, and more importantly, seeing your photos, I don't think I would buy it. And anyway, I love my Amy's low sodium California burger.

Interesting! I haven't tried this one yet, for some reason Whole Foods didn't have it the last time I was there... I'm a bit wary of it too because of the "fungi" since I am an avowed mushroom hater! But of course I have to try it someday.... ;)

Fry's products are vegan and taste pretty good - plus the other major issue with Quorn is it contains palm oil. Palm oil to be avoided due to the horrific deforestation and subsequent killing of forest wildlife. Of particular note is the orangutan who suffer terribly. Not onlty being killed but babies captured for the pet trade, and females used as prostitutes - yes you heard right. Please spread the word, palm oil flies under the radar and it is in a lot of stuff please visit this site to learn more: wwhttp://www.saynotopalmoil.com/

I've eaten the Quorn Vegan Burgers dozens of times and it's just as good as Boca burgers are. I eat this vegan burger all the time and have used it as a substitute for taco meat and as meatless meatballs with spaghetti.

I can't stomach the other brands of vegan burgers so I'm really not that easy to please.